Car-coupling



oooooooo A. LEGENDRE.

GAR- GGGGGGG G.

No. 548,211. Y Patented Oct. 22, 1895.

NITED STATES PATENT Fries.

ABDON LEGENDRE, OF THIBODEAUX, LOUISIANA.

cAR-couPLlNe.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 548,211, dated October 22, 1 895.

Application filed August 19 .To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ABDoN LEGENDRE, a citizen of the United States, residing at ThibodeauX, in the parish of La Fourche and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Car-Coupling, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to improvements in car-couplings.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of pin-and-link carcouplings, to enable them to couple automatically, and to cause them to guide the link automatically into the mouth of a draw-head.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

Figure lis a perspective view of a car-coupling constructed in accordance with this invention, the coupling-pin being elevated preparatory to automatic coupling. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view of the same, the coupling-pin being arranged for holding a link in position for guiding it into the mouth of a draw-head and being shown elevated in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, the coupling-pin being elevated. Fig. tis a detail view of the tubular guide.

l designates a draw-head provided with a flaring mouth and having the coupling-pin perforation,receiving a coupling-pin 2, adapted to be arranged in a tubular guide 3, whereby it is held in an elevated position preparatory to automatic coupling. The tubular guide 3 is provided at its lower end with an attachment-ring 4, which is secured to the top of the draw-head by screws or other suitable fastening devices, and which is adapted to be mounted on the ordinary construction of draw-head to enable the improvements herein shown and described to be applied thereto.

The coupling-piu is adapted to engage a link 5 and is held elevated by a catch 6, consisting ot' oppositely-disposed lateral projections, which are arranged in grooves or ways 7 of the tubular guide and which are adapted to be supported upon shoulders 8 at the rear or inner sides 0f the grooves or Ways, whereby when two draw-heads come together for coupling the jar will throw the catch off the seat formed by the shoulders and cause the coupling-pin to fall and engage a link. The projectionsvforming the catch 6 preferably consist of a piece of metal arranged in an opening of the coupling-pin and projecting from opposite sides thereof. The grooves or ways of the tubular guide are slightly enlarged at the top to allow the coupling-pin sufficient play in order that the jar will readily throw the projections oft the seat.

In order to hold the link horizontally to guide it into the mouth of the draw-head, the coupling-pin is provided a short distance from its lower end with an inwardly or rearwardly extending arm 9, arranged to engage the inner end of the link, and the weightof the coupling-pin is sufficient to hold the link in a horizontal position to guide it automatically and to obviate the necessity of guiding the same by hand. The top of the draw-head is provided with a slot l0, extending rearward from the `coupling-pin perforatiomto provide a passage-way for the arm of the coupling-pin, and the tubular guide is provided at its back with a vertical slot or opening to form a passage-way for the said arm 9, to enable the coupling-pin to be raised and set for automatic coupling. Y

VAny suitable means may be provided for raising the coupling-pin from the top and sides of a car in order that the operation of uncoupling may be performed without going between cars.

It will be seen that the car-coupling is eX- ceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, that the improvements are capable of being readily applied to pin-and-link couplings of the ordinary construction, and will render them capable of y coupling y,automatically and of guiding a link into the mouth of a draw-head to obviate the necessity of going between cars during the loperation of coupling.

Changes in the form, proportion, andthe minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the, advantages yof this invention.

What I claim is- In a car coupling, the combination of a drawhead, a tubular guide mounted on the drawhead and extending upward therefrom, and provided at its back with a slot or opening, and having on its interior at opposite sides grooves or Ways, said guide being provided at the upper terminals of the grooves or Ways With opposite shoulders forming seats, a couplingpin arranged :in the tubular guide and provided With lateral projections tting in the grooves or Ways and adapted to engage the seats formed by the shouldersr to -hold the coupling pin in an elevated position, and an armV extending rearwardly from the coupling pin and arranged to engage a link to hold the same in a horizontal position, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto afxed my si gnature in the presence of two Witnesses.

ABDON LEGENDRE.

'Witnesses A. J. BRAND, P. F. LEGENDRE. 

